Peter Lamborn Wilson
Peter Lamborn Wilson (born 1945) (pseudonym Hakim Bey), is an American poet, political writer, and essayist, known for first proposing the concept of the Temporary Autonomous Zone (TAZ), based, in part, on a historical review of pirate utopias. He is an anarchist associated with the post-left anarchy tendency and Individualist anarchism."People who think that they know our politics, who know that we are individualists (or even worse, “neo-individualists”), will no doubt be shocked to discover us taking an interest in the IWW...The Mackay Society, of which Mark & I are active members, is devoted to the anarchism of Max Stirner, Benj. Tucker & John Henry Mackay...As “individualists” moreover we have good reason to appreciate the IWW concept of the union. Stirner — contrary to the belief of those who have not actually read his book — spoke approvingly of a “Union of Unique Ones” (we prefer this translation to “Union of Egoists”), in which all members would reach for individual goals through common interests. He suggested that the workers had the most to gain by embracing this notion, & that if the productive class were to organize on such a basis it would prove irresistible. (The prejudice against Stirner, by the way, can be traced to Marx & Engels, who considered him potentially even more dangerous than Bakunin, & wrote their biggest book to destroy his influence.)...The Mackay Society, incidentally, represents a little-known current of individualist thought which never cut its ties with revolutionary labor. Dyer Lum, Ezra & Angela Haywood represent this school of thought; Jo Labadie, who wrote for Tucker’s Liberty, made himself a link between the american “plumb-line” anarchists, the “philosophical” individualists, & the syndicalist or communist branch of the movement; his influence reached the Mackay Society through his son, Laurance. Like the Italian Stirnerites (who influenced us through our late friend E. Arrigoni) we support all anti-authoritarian currents, despite their apparent contradictions. Why? Because we feel that some realization of personal liberty is possible even in the very act of struggling for it. "Hakim Bey. "An esoteric interpretation of the I.W.W. preamble" Life Bey's early work is described in the translator's biography of one of his earliest works: After studying at Columbia University, he did extensive traveling in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal. He studied Tantra in West Bengal and visited many Sufi shrines and masters. In 1971 he undertook research on the Ni'matullahi, funded by the Marsden Foundation of New York.Fakhruddin 'Iraqi: Divine Flashes, page viii. Paulist Press, 1983. This research was the basis of Bey's book Kings of Love. The biography continues: During 1974 and 1975 he was consultant in London and Tehran for the World of Islam Festival. In 1974 he became director of English language publications at the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy in Tehran under Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and he studied, worked with, and published books by Nasr, Toshihiko Izutsu, Henry Corbin and others. He was editor of Sophia Perennis, the Journal of the IIAP. Bey left Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In the 1980s, his ideas evolved from a kind of neo-traditionalism to a synthesis of anarchism and Situationist ideas with heterodox Sufism and Neopaganism, describing his ideas as "anarchist ontology" or "immediatism". In the past he has worked with the not-for-profit publishing project Autonomedia, in Brooklyn, New York. In addition to his writings on anarchism and Temporary Autonomous Zones, Bey has written essays on such diverse topics as Tong traditions, the utopian Charles Fourier, the fascist Gabriele D'Annunzio, alleged connections between Sufism and ancient Celtic culture, sacred pederasty in the Sufi tradition,Wilson, Peter Lambourn. Contemplation of the Unbearded - The Rubaiyyat of Awhadoddin Kermani. Paidika, Vol.3, No.4, 1995. technology and Luddism, and Amanita muscaria use in ancient Ireland. Bey's poetic texts and poems have appeared in: P.A.N.; Panthology One, Two, and Three; Ganymede; Exquisite Corpse; and the various Acolyte Reader paperbacks. Many of these poems, including the 'Sandburg' series, are collected in the as-yet unpublished DogStar volume. Currently his works can be found regularly in publications like Fifth Estate and the NYC-based First of the Month. He has also published at least one novel, The Chronicles of Qamar: Crowstone. Bey, especially because of his TAZ work, has often been embraced by rave subculture, as ravers have identified the experience and occasions of raves as part of the tradition of "Temporary Autonomous Zones" that Bey outlines, particularly the "free party" or teknival scene. Bey has been supportive of the rave connection, while remarking in an interview, "The ravers were among my biggest readers... I wish they would rethink all this techno stuff — they didn’t get that part of my writing."An Anarchist in the Hudson Valley Brooklyn Rail, July 2004 In an interview with David Levi Strauss and Christopher Bamford in The Brooklyn Rail, Bey has said on the formation of Green Hermeticism: Criticism In Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism: An Unbridgeable Chasm, Murray Bookchin included Bey's work in what he called "lifestyle anarchism", which he criticised for tendencies towards mysticism, occultism, and irrationalism.Bookchin, Murray. Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism (1995). AK Press: Stirling. ISBN 978-1-873176-83-2. (pp. 20-26) Bey did not respond publicly. Bob Black wrote a rejoinder to Bookchin in Anarchy after Leftism. Publications Poetry *''The Winter Calligraphy of Ustad Selim, and other poems''. Ipswich, UK: Golgonooza Press, 1975. ISBN 0-903880-05-9 *''Divan''. London: Crescent Moon Press, 1978. *''Cross-Dressing in the Anti-Rent War: With poems for occasions, Egyptian sonnets, and ghazals & letters'' (illustrated by Brenda Iijima). Brooklyn, NY: Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs, 2005. *''Rain Queer''. Boulder, CO: Farfalla Press / McMillan & Parrish, 2005. ISBN 0-9766341-1-2 *''Gothick Institutions''. Dreamtime Village, WI: Xexoxial Editions, 2005. ISBN 0-9770049-0-2 *''Abecedarium''. West Lima, WI: Xexoxial Editions, 2010. *''Ec(o)logues'' (poetry & prose). Barrytown, NY: Station Hill Press, 2011. ISBN 978-1-58177-115-2 *''Riverpeople''. Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia, 2013. Novel ;as Hakim Bey *''Crowstone: The Chronicles of Qamar''. Amsterdam: Spartacus, 1983. Short fiction *''Weaver of Tales: Persian picture rugs = Persische Bildteppiche: Geknüpfte Mythen'' (with Karl Schlamminger). Munich, Germany: Callwey, 1980. *''False Documents''. Barrytown, NY : Station Hill Press, 2014. Non-fiction *''Science and Technology in Islam'' (exhibition catalogue; with Leonard Harrow). London] : Crescent Moon Press, 1976. *''Angels''. New York: Pantheon, 1980. ISBN 0-500-11017-4 **abridged as Angels: Messengers of the Gods. London: Thames & Hudson, 1994. *''Scandal: Essays in Islamic heresy''. Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia, 1988. ISBN 0-936756-15-2 *''The Universe: A mirror of itself''. West Lima, WI: Xexoxial Endarchy, 1992. *''Sacred Drift: Essays on the margins of Islam''. San Francisco: City Lights, 1993. ISBN 0-87286-275-5 *''The Little Book of Angels''. Shaftsbury, Dorset, UK, & Rockport, MA: Element, 1993. *''Pirate Utopias: Moorish corsairs and European renegadoes''. Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia, 1995; revised edition, 2003. ISBN 1-57027-158-5 *''"Shower of Stars" Dream & Book: The initiatic dream in Sufism and Taoism''. Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia, 1996. ISBN 1-57027-036-8 *''The Little Book of Angel Wisdom''. Shaftsbury, Dorset, UK, & Rockport, MA: Element, 1997. ISBN 1-85230-436-7 ISBN 1-86204-048-6 *''Escape from the Nineteenth Century, and other essays''. Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia, 1998.) ISBN 1-57027-073-2 *''Ploughing the Clouds: The search for Irish soma''. San Francisco: City Lights, 1999. ISBN 0-87286-326-3 *''Green Hermeticism: Alchemy and ecology''; (with Christopher Bamford & Kevin Townley. Great Barrington, MA: Lindisfarne, 2007. ISBN 1-58420-049-9 *''Atlantis Manifesto'' (with Robert Kelly). Woodstock, NY: Shivastan, 2009. ;as Hakim Bey *''CHAOS: The broadsheets of ontological anarchism''. Weehawken, NJ : Grim Reaper Books, 1985. *''TAZ: The Temporary Autonomous Zone: Ontological anarchy, poetic terrorism'' (incorporates full text of CHAOS). New York: Autonomedia, 1991. ISBN 0-936756-76-4 **revised & expanded (incorporates full text of CHAOS and Aimless Wandering). Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia, 2003. ISBN 1-57027-151-8 *''Aimless Wandering: Chuang Tzu's chaos linguistics''. La Farge, WI: Xexoxial Editions, 1993. *''Immediatism: Essays''. Edinburgh: AK Press, 1994. ISBN 1-873176-42-2 *''Millennium. Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia / Dublin: Garden of Delight, 1996. ISBN 1-57027-045-7 *''Black Fez Manifesto. Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia, 2007. ISBN 978-1-57027-187-8 Translated *Nasir-I Khusraw. 40 Poems from the Divan (1977) (translated & edited with Gholam Reza Aavani). Tehran: Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy, 1977. ISBN 0-87773-730-4 *''Kings of Love: The poetry and history of the Nimatullahi Sufi order of Iran'' (1978) (translated & edited with Nasrollah Pourjavady). Tehran: Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy, 1978. *Fakhruddin 'Iraqi, Divine Flashes (translated with William C. Chittick). New York : Paulist Press, 1982. ISBN 0-8091-2372-X *''The Drunken Universe: An anthology of Persian Sufi poetry'' (translated & edited with Nasrollah Purjavadi). Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1987. ISBN 0-933999-65-8 ;as Hakim Bey *Abu Nuwas, O Tribe That Loves Boys: The poetry (translated & edited). Amsterdam: Entimos Press / Utrecht: Abu Nuwas Society, 1993. ISBN 90-800857-3-1 Edited *''Traditional Modes of Contemplation & Action: A colloquium held at Rothko Chapel, Houston Texas'' (edited with Yusuf Ibish). Tehran: Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy, 1977. *''Semiotext(e) SF'' (1989) (edited with Rudy Rucker & Robert Anton Wilson). New York: Semiotext(e), 1989. *''Wild Children'' (1998) (edited with Dave Mandl). Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia, 1998.Wild Children, AK Press. Web, Apr. 27, 2015. *''Avant Gardening: Ecological wtruggle in the city & the world'' (edited with Bill Weinberg). Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia, 1999. ISBN 1-57027-092-9 ;as Hakim Bey *''Loving Boys: Semiotext(e) special''. New York: Semiotext(e), 1980.Robert P. Helms, "Leaving out the Ugly Part: Hakim Bey / Peter Lamborn Wilson," Libcom.org, October 18, 2005. Web, Apr. 27, 2015. *''Orgies Of The Hemp Eaters: Cuisine, slang, literature & ritual of cannabis culture'' (edited with Abel Zug). New York: Autonomedia, 2004. ISBN 1-57027-143-7 Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Peter Lamborn Wilson, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Apr. 27, 2015. Search results = au:Hakim Bey, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Apr. 27, 2015. See also *List of U.S. poets References External links ;Poems *"For Leonora Carrington" ;Prose * The Writings of Hakim Bey A collection of his articles is available here ;Audio / video * Audio of 1993 talk featuring Hakim Bey * Roots of Rebellion audio interview with Hakim Bey ;About *Sakhra-l'Assal Interviews Peter Lamborn Wilson at Hermetic.com * July 2004 interview from The Brooklyn Rail * "How many times do we have to educate these fucking fools?" — An interview by Alexandre Miltsov (spring 2005) **part 1 **part 2 **part 3 **part 4 * January 2006 Affinity Project Interview Part One, On Islam * December 2007/January 2008 interview from The Brooklyn Rail *"Living under Sick Machines", interview at the Brooklyn Rail, 2014. *Reading Report: Peter Lamborn Wilson at The Poetry Project *"Leaving Out the Ugly Part: Hakim Bey / Peter Lamborn Wilson)" in Libcom.org.(also here). ;Books *Hakim Bey at Amazon.com Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:American anarchists Category:American occult writers Category:American poets Category:American political philosophers Category:Anarchism theorists Category:Anarchist poets Category:Anarchist writers Category:Egoist anarchists Category:History of mystic traditions Category:Individualist anarchists Category:Islamic politics and Islamic world studies Category:Post-left anarchists Category:Postanarchists Category:Postmodernists Category:Underground culture Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets